Prude Ranch – Texas Star Party on May 10, 2010

Observed with Dennis Beckley and Faith Jordan  We decided to hit the TSP Superthin galaxies AOL 2010.  We completed the requirements in one night.  I took somewhat brief notes as I was sharing eyepiece time with Dennis and Faith.

This night was pretty far below average as the transparency wasn’t so hot.

Many of the observed flat galaxies are re-observations from my April trip to Cronan Ranch, but with darker skies with a smaller instrument.

Instrument:  18” f/4.5 Obsession Classic

Eyepieces: 27mm Panoptic (finder) ,11mm TeleVue Plossl, 6mm Zeiss ZAO-II, 8mm Ethos and 7.5 Tak LE

NELM = 6.9

Seeing - 5/10 to 7/10 and Transparency – 5/10

UGC 5164  (09 40 49.8  +11 33 11  1.1x0.1’  14.6) 

18” (187 and 343x) – Thin even surface brightness streak, even surface brightness and no central brightening.  PA = 15 and 0.7’ long.  Companion (unlabelled) at the south tip was a faint and very small round glow.  Nearby galaxy, CGCG 63-37 (09 41 06.7  +11 30 20  0.7 x 0.1’  15.9) – very faint 2:1 elongated  and small. About 0.3’ long and PA = 165.   A close pair of 11.9 and 14.1 magnitude stars lies 0.2’ east.

UGC 5173  (09 41 32.2  +11 24 47  2.3 x 0.2’  14.7p)

18” (187x) – Faint thin streak, small brighter central bulge.  Defined edges.   PA = 135 and 1.7’ long. 

Nearby galaxies:

CGCG 63-43 (09 41 35.7  +11 28 11  0.6 x 0.1’  15.5) – very faint slightly elongated glow.  Lies 3.6’ north of UGC 5173.  PA = 60 and 0.2’ long.   

MCG +2-25-19  (09 41 46.8  +11 28 55  0.8 x 0.8’  14.8) - considerably bright round glow with diffuse edges.  About 0.3’ across and lies 2’ ENE of CGCG 63-43.  A 14.3 mag star is just off the east edge.

UGC 5267  (09 49 52.8  +09 05 45  1.6 x 0.2’  14.9p) 

18” (187 and 343x) – bright, even surface brightness, no nucleus, well defined edges.  A pair of 15^th mag stars to the west and a 16^th mag star is just off the E edge.   PA = 45 and 1’ long. 

Nearby Galaxies:

UGC 5270 (09 49 54.7  +09 09 48  0.9 x 0.5’  14.6) – bright 2:1 elongated glow with defined edges. PA = 0 and 0.4’ long.  A small very faint knot seen at the SE edge.    Lies 4.1’ north of UGC 5267.    

MCG+2-25-42 (09 49 52.7  +09 09 39  0.5 x 0.2’  14.6) – considerably faint very small round patch.  About 0.2’ across and lies 0.4’ west of UGC 5270. 

UGC 5341  (09 56 35.9  +20 38 44  2.9 x 0.2’  15.0p)

18” (187x) – very faint, thin glow with diffuse edges.  Even surface brightness with a faint nearly stellar core.  2’ long and PA = 60.  A 15.7 magnitude star lies 1’ SW from the core.

UGC 5495  (10 11 53.3  +16 26 24  3.0 x 0.3’  14.3p)

18” (187 and 343x) – Bright, thin glow with a nearly stellar core.  Diffuse edges.  Somewhat a mottled surface.  PA = 100 and about 1.9’ long.

UGC 5509  (10 13 32.3  +20 10 32  1.4 x 0.2  15.1p)

18” (187 and 343x) – Considerably faint thin glow.  Even surface brightness with no central brightening.  PA = 60 and 1’ long.  A 15^th magnitude star is detected near each end. 

NGC 3279  (10 34 42.7  +11 11 54  2.9 x 0.3’  13.9p)

18” (187x) – Considerably bright thin streak. Brighter center and well defined edges.  PA = 150 and 2’ long.  A 10.4 mag star is about 3.5’ due north from the center.

NGC 3501  (11 02 47.3  +17 59 21  4.6 x 0.6’  13.6p)

18” (187 and 343x) – Considerably bright thin streak with a brighter center.  A very faint 16^th magnitude star off east side of the NW tip.  PA = 30 and 3.2’ long.  Sit inside a triangle of 14-15^th mag stars.

NGC 3245A  (10 27 01.1  +28 38 22  4.2 x 0.4’  14.7p)

18” (187 and 343x) – Faint thin glow with no central brightness.  1.1’ long and PA = 150.  A pair of 12.6 and 13.3 magnitude stars is off the NW tip.

NGC 3432  (10 52 31.0  +36 37 12  6.8 x 1.4’  11.7b)

18” (187x) – Very bright with a very knotty off-centered center.  Pair of 13-14^th magnitude stars off the SW tip, a mag 13.0 star is off the east edge and a mag 15 star off the NW edge.  A very faint disconnected knot detected about 3.4’ NE from the center of NGC 3432.  UGC 5983 was suspected, but not positive and is located 1.4’ west of the SW tip.

UGC 4719  (09 00 37.8  +50 40 43  2.3 x 0.2’  14.9p)

18” (187 and 343x) – considerably bright thin streak with well defined edges.  PA = 90 and 1.7’ long.  MAC 0900+5040 was a considerably bright, round and small glow with diffuse edges.  1’ ESE from the east tip of NGC 2814.

NGC 2820  (09 21 47.1  +64 15 29  5.5 x 0.7’  12.8v)

18” (187x) – Bright, thin and even surface brightness.  Defined edges and brighter center.  IC 2458 is considerably bright small and round. 

NGC 2814 - bright 3:1elongated glow with well defined edges.  An 11.2 mag star is just SW of the S tip.

  (11 22 07.3  +69 38 02  2.7 x 0.2’  14.7p)

18” (187 and 343x) – Thin fairly high surface brightness streak with well defined edges.  PA = 135 and 1.5’ long.  A 16^th mag star lies about 0.5’ NE from the center.

UGC 6667  (11 42 26.3  +51 35 51  3.7 x 0.6’  14.2b)

18” (257x) – Faint streak with diffuse edges.  Even surface brightness with no central brightening.  2.5’ long and PA = 90

UGC 8040  (12 54 43.8  +58 46 38  1.4 x 0.1’)  14.7p)

 18” (257 and 343x) – considerably bright thin glow with well defined edges.  No central brightness.  About 1’ long and PA = 45. 

Nearby Galaxies:

UGC 8046 (12 55 04.0  +58 47 26  1.0 x 0.8’  15.2p) – considerably faint 2:1 elongated glow with diffuse edges.  PA = 135 and 0.5’ long. 

MCG +10-19-1 (12 54 49.9  +58 52 57  0.7 x 0.4’  15.2) - Bright 3:2 elongated glow with well defined edges.  PA = 45 and 0.5’ long. 

MCG +10-18-88  (12 54 22.4  +58 53 41  0.7 x 0.4’  15.1) – Bright 3:2 elongated glow with defined edges.  PA =90 and 0.5’ long.  Appears similar to MCG+10-19-1.

  (13 02 07.7  +58 42 01  3.4 x 0.3’  14.4p)

18” (257 and 343x) – Considerably bright thin glow with diffuse edges.  Bright off-centered nucleus a little towards the SE end.  A small faint knot was detected halfway to the NE tip.  PA = 30 and 2’ long. 

NGC 4183  (12 13 17.2  +43 41 48 6.3 x 0.8’  12.9b)

18” (187 and 343x) – Considerably bright thin glow with a brighter center.  Well defined edges.  3.5’ long.  PA = 150.  A 14.6 mag star lies halfway from the center and the S tip.  A very faint knot is seen near the N tip.

UGC 7321  (12 17 34.1  +22 32 27  5.5 x 0.3’  14.2b)

18” (187 and 343x) – Faint very thin streak with well defined edges.  Very slightly brighter center.  About 3.5’ long and PA = 70.  A 14.5 mag star lies just off the E tip.  A “Sagitta”  asterism lies on the north side.

NGC 4244  (12 17 30.0  +37 48 27  17.7 x 1.9’  10.2v)

18” (257x) – Very bright thick galaxy with a brighter thin center.  Two bright knots detected near each end.  A thin knot is just off the SW tip of the brighter center.  12’ long and PA = 45.  A 15^th mag star is on the NE tip. 

NGC 5907  (15 15 53.9  +56 19 38  12.9 x 1.3’  11.1b)

18” (257x) – A very bright thin glow with a knotty center.  About 9’ long and PA = 135

UGC 10043  (15 48 41.3  +21 52 06  2.6 x 0.4’  14.8p)

18” (274x) – Thin streak with a distinct round budge in the center.  Upon seeing this object for the first time, I noticed the budge first, then the spindle popped in later.  About 1.8’ long.  The bulge is 0.3’ in diameter.